


You've Got a Friend in Me

by Jauxter



Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware, Half-Life
Genre: Apologies, Confusion, Light Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pre-Relationship, can be read as platonic, if u want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:42:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25525363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jauxter/pseuds/Jauxter
Summary: A couple months after Black Mesa, Gordon is starting to feel okay again. His patience is put to the test when a certain someone can't seem to leave him be.
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 2
Kudos: 113





	You've Got a Friend in Me

**Author's Note:**

> I thought I was immune to writing stuff for HLVRAI
> 
> I was wrong
> 
> (Title doesn't really have anything to do with the fic, I just thought of the premise while listening to a variation of the song)

A few months after the whole absolute shitshow that was Black Mesa, Gordon thought he could finally say that he felt pretty good. 

Of course, this was after many hours of, well, uncomfortable reflection on the event, both by himself and with the rest of the team. Their conversations about it ranged in topic, from things as light as which sodas had been the best, all the way to Gordon’s grueling descriptions of fighting Bubby’s prototypes.

Benrey had been a particularly tough subject to breach. It seemed that the more Gordon thought about him, the more confused he became. So many of his actions had made zero sense, not to mention his contradictory nature. Every time Gordon thought he’d gained some traction in understanding him, Benrey would do or say something that would completely throw him off. 

The more he thought about it, he also realized he’d been an asshole. Yes, Benrey was annoying, and yes, he’d been a contributing factor to him losing his arm, but Gordon couldn’t help but feel that if he had been just a little more patient, then maybe things wouldn’t have ended up going down the shitter so quickly.

There was that other thing too. How… unaware of his surroundings Benrey had seemed. Most of the time he’d go on about the same shit, passports and whatnot, but sometimes Gordon would catch him staring off into nothing with a look of genuine confusion on his face. He could think of a few times where Benrey had asked a question, seemingly to piss him off, but Gordon would find that look on his face and hear him speak in a tone that wasn’t as flat as soda left uncapped for a week.

Each member of the team had expressed that they didn’t believe he was dead, and who was Gordon to disagree? Time and time again they’d been sure he was dead for good, yet he never was. Sometimes Gordon wondered what he’d do if he met him again, ultimately coming to the conclusion that he had no fucking idea. 

In the end, he wished he’d had a bit more preparation. 

His answer came one night as he was walking back to his apartment from Tommy’s house. It wasn’t too late, but the sun had long since dipped below the horizon. He’d been lucky enough to leave at the exact time when the fading rays began to illuminate the clouds with pink and orange light, casting a faint light over the buildings at his side. Gordon held his head high, taking in the last light of the day with a certain peace.

That peace was shattered when he caught sight of a string of colored orbs leading from the center of the sidewalk he stood on, down an alleyway between apartment buildings. He froze in place, heart rate picking up slightly.

Despite looking different from what he’d seen before, it had to be the Black Mesa Sweet Voice. What else could it be? Gordon drew a blank. 

He was presented with two options: follow the trail to whoever lay at the other end, or keep on his merry way, weighed down by the highly-likely possibility that Benrey was running around unchecked. 

Gordon took a breath, having practically already had the decision made for him. He walked cautiously, making sure to tread quietly and avoid actually touching any of the multi-colored orbs as he followed the thread. He poked his head around the side of the alley and, despite knowing it was coming eventually, was still shocked to see the sweet voice’s owner.

Sitting in the corner with his legs crossed resting his head against the wall.

Gordon couldn’t see his face, but he was still in his guard uniform, reasoning that there was no one else it could be. 

Not sure what compelled him, Gordon continued to creep down the alley, careful not to make any noise. That plan was promptly shattered to pieces as he kicked an empty can on the ground. It clattered loudly as he sent it sliding down the pavement. To Gordon’s surprise, Benrey flinched before twisting around to look at him. Their eyes met for a brief second before Benrey quickly averted his gaze.

“Hey bro.”

Gordon was shocked. He was facing the man that he’d killed, and all he’d gotten was a ‘Hey bro’? He scoffed at him.

“Don’t fucking ‘Hey bro” me, man,” Gordon said. “What the hell are you doing here?” 

Gordon couldn’t keep the venom out of his voice, but he wasn’t nearly enraged as he thought he’d be. At the moment, he was mostly just confused.

“... ‘M in time out. ‘Cause ya know, I did some pretty fucked up shit,” Benrey mumbled as a few small grey orbs, with what looked like a criss-cross pattern on them, slipped from the corners of his mouth.

Gordon was absolutely dumbfounded. Time-out? What the fuck? He squinted his eyes and looked Benrey over for tell-tale signs of lying. Benrey looked tired and had a fairly awkward sort of air about him, but overall seemed honest. He closed his jaw with an audible click. After a few moments of tense silence, Benrey’s gaze flicked up to meet his own before darting away again. He shifted uncomfortably.

“And uh… I guess I sorta owe you a uh- an apology” 

Damn, was he ever full of surprises. Before Gordon could get a single word out, Benrey had started talking again.

"'M sorry that I got your arm cut off, 'M sorry I almost killed you, and I'm sorry I was a huge dick about it. Even if it was funny." The last part was mumbled, so much so that Gordon didn't even catch it. He crossed his arms.

"You know just a sorry isn't going to cut it, right? I mean, come the fuck on, I-"

"I know man! I know. 'M not fuckin' stupid. You didn't let me finish." More criss-cross patterned orbs slipped from Benrey's mouth, this time red joining the grey. "I didn't even wanna do a lot of that shit."

"Then why? Why did you do it?" Gordon sneered. 

Benrey’s face began to turn red, frustration clear in the way he grasped at the straps on the worn kevlar vest.

“I did- I did it ‘cause I didn’t have a fucking choice. What else do you want me to say, huh?” Benrey spat, turning to face the wall again. “I tried to fight it, man, it didn’t work.” He murmured, just barely audible. 

With Benrey’s admission, most of the fight drained from Gordon. He walked a few steps to slump down in the corner opposite Benrey. The silence stretched between them until Gordon couldn’t take it anymore.

“How long have you been out here?” His tone had less of an edge to it.

“I dunno. Couple’a days maybe.” Benrey mumbled flatly. 

“Where’ve you been staying?”

“Y’know. Around.” Gordon was pretty certain that meant he was staying god-knows-where outside. 

He sighed. He had a feeling he was really going to regret the next thing that came out of his mouth. Damn him and his moral standards.

“That’s bullshit and you know it. If you really have nowhere else to go… I guess you can stay at my place for a couple of days.” God he already wanted slap himself. But, he reminded himself, this was less for Benrey’s sake and more for the safety of the general population. Benrey tilted his head to give him a sideways look. 

“You joking? ‘Cause if you are, ‘s not a funny one.” Gordon rose to his feet, starting to lose his patience.

“Oh my god, dude. Do you want to come or not? You’d better make up your mind because I will take it back-”

“Ok, ok! Man, if you were that desperate to get me to come home with you, you should have asked earlier.” Gordon barely caught the small smirk that crossed Benrey’s face at that. He pushed a hand under his glasses to rub at his eyes, and not to hide the redness that had not risen to his cheeks.

“Just- Just fucking get up before I leave you here,” Gordon said, already starting down the alley.

To Gordon’s relief, Benrey stood and began to follow him without another word. Instead, all he heard was a slight humming and caught sight of a trail of splotchy looking blue orbs in Benrey’s wake. 

As the final hint of light left the sky, almost as if Benrey wasn’t tailing him, Gordon once again let a sense of peace wash over him.

**Author's Note:**

> Sweet Voice translations-   
> Grey Plaid means I'm sad  
> Red Plaid means I'm sorry I made you so mad  
> Charry Blue means I want to say sorry to you
> 
> I wrote this while taking a break from editing my more serious fic, so this is mostly unedited from the original draft. That being said if you see anything I majorly fucked up, please let me know as I am unfamiliar with posting on ao3. 
> 
> Sorry if it wasn't great, I wrote it in like, an hour and a half and I've never written for these characters before.


End file.
